Outside or Inside?

[Jesse's pigs]

I’m having a bit of a dilemma at the moment and I’m honestly torn.

I have kept all of my Guinea pigs indoors and they’ve all occupied my bedroom- a nice warm room that I frequent so they get human interaction loads and I can cuddle them as much as I want lol. I love having them next to me-actually struggle to sleep without them moving about now!

I have just been given a hutch (virtually brand new) from a relative who unfortunately lost their bunny (it has been cleaned by her and will be THOUROUGHLY disinfected etc by myself before I house anything in it!). It has two levels and is raised off the floor. As well as a proper insulating cover. A very good size I’d say probably the same length as a 140/160 cage you’d buy online which is marginally bigger than my indoor cages (well one of them the other is about the same)- I’ve ordered a new one for Steve as I had to work with what I had when they first fell out.

At the moment my boys are still separate and I plan on doing a final last ditch attempt to get them back together via a bonding bath. If this works then the hutch would stay with two levels, if not I’d likely have a level for one and the other for the other (friends coming thereafter). I know they’d likely love the space and if I could have it in my room I would lol, but I worry that them being outside I wouldn’t pick up on illnesses as well (for example how would I have noticed Steve’s squeaking while toileting or bloat as quickly?)or getting too cold-we all know how unpredictable British weather can be. Will they be as loving? Steve absolutely adores having me walk past and interact throughout the day and whenever I’m in, I worry I won’t have this same bond if they’re outside.

Is it possible to let them enjoy this on nice warm days and have them inside at night or am I going to cause more disruption like this?

Will value your opinions. I am looking into getting a C and C eventually and having my own piggy room, but that’ll be when I get my own place (bloody soon I hope!) so want to do what’s best for them until then. I know I probably sound like a right wally but they’re my babies- my mum wants them outside she thinks this is where they should be like my rabbit.

 

[Piggies&buns]

We don’t recommend doing buddy baths - it’s not going to make them suddenly like each other if they aren’t compatible.
Two boars ideally need a cage of 180cm x 60cm so the hutch may be just a little too small for boars. The fact it’s on two levels (assuming your two go back together) doesn’t make it any bigger as upper levels don’t count towards the cage size.

They can be outside during the day and then come in at night but that will only work during the summer. Once the temperatures start to drop and the fluctuation from outside to inside becomes greater, they can’t be transferred between the two - you’d have to pick one and stick to it.
If they going to be outside, it can be harder but not impossible. Mine live in my shed and I spend so much time out there with them - you can bond in exactly the same way! I can hear them wheeking as I walk towards them, they know I’m coming as soon as I open the back door! Keeping them warm is more work - hutch covers, loads of extra hay, snugglesafe heat pads (I spend more time heating microwaveable pads up during the winter than anything else!)

 

[Jesse's pigs]

Have to confess I haven’t actually measured it yet it’s just stood in the corner of my lawn as I was at work but from a glimpse I’m estimating so could be bigger. I realised the two levels don’t increase the space- if I use it for guinea pigs I think I would just have one level for one pair and the bottom for another. It’s only if I had a bonded pair that I’d just let them have the whole thing (I’d worry about them falling from ramp).

Don’t worry easy call on that in the winter I’d have them inside here so that’s fine. It’d only be during the summer that I’d probably let them in it and bring them in late evening overnight.

 

[PoppyFloss]

What I do is have my piggies outside during the day and inside during the night. I want them to get fresh air, grass and have a similar habitat to their usual one but I would be worried leaving them outside all the time as we have so many foxes in our area!
They actually have three enclosures at the moment (an outdoor hutch, an outdoor run and an indoor hutch, but I’m planning to add a c&c cage bit on the front for Christmas ).